Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate to remove moisture and/or residue

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a substrate includes a non-vacuum enclosure; at least one opening in the non-vacuum enclosure to insert a substrate into or remove a substrate from the non-vacuum enclosure; a movable substrate carrier, including a plurality of substrate holders, disposed within the non-vacuum enclosure to linearly move substrates disposed on the plurality of substrate holders; a heater to heat an interior of the non-vacuum enclosure; a gas supply to supply a gas to the interior of the non-vacuum enclosure; and a vent to exhaust the gas from the interior of the non-vacuum enclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/929,897, filed Jan. 21, 2014, which is herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to substrateprocessing equipment.

BACKGROUND

Currently, standalone furnaces are used to pretreat a substrate (e.g., asemiconductor wafer) to drive off moisture and residues on thesubstrate. However, a separate furnace is costly and occupies a largeamount of valuable space in a fab. Alternatively, degas and precleanchambers have been used to achieve similar results. However, such analternative solution does not yield an optimal system throughput sincethe degas operation takes a relatively long time due to the extensivetime required for moisture and residue removal. Also, in the degaschamber, the substrate is heated to about 300° C. and the chamber ispumped down to a low pressure. Although the process releases unwantedmaterial from the substrate surface, the material will then be depositedonto the wall of the chamber. The preclean process removes and/orreduces oxidation from the substrate using hydrogen, which cleaves offthe oxygen. However, the substrate should be immediately processed afterthe preclean process because if the substrate leaves a low-oxygenenvironment, oxidation will reoccur.

Therefore, the inventor has provided an improved substrate treatmentapparatus for use with integrated fabrication systems.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of methods and apparatus for processing a substrate areprovided herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing asubstrate includes a non-vacuum enclosure; at least one opening in thenon-vacuum enclosure to insert a substrate into or remove a substratefrom the non-vacuum enclosure; a movable substrate carrier, including aplurality of substrate holders, disposed within the non-vacuum enclosureto linearly move substrates disposed on the plurality of substrateholders; a heater to heat an interior of the non-vacuum enclosure; a gassupply to supply a gas to the interior of the non-vacuum enclosure; anda vent to exhaust the gas from the interior of the non-vacuum enclosure.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a substrate includes afactory interface for interfacing with a substrate processing platform,the factory interface including a docking station and a factoryinterface robot to facilitate transfer of substrates from the factoryinterface to the substrate processing platform; a substrate treatmentapparatus coupled to the factory interface such that the factoryinterface robot can place substrates into or remove substrates from thesubstrate treatment apparatus; and a gas supply coupled to the substratetreatment apparatus to provide a gas to an interior volume of thesubstrate treatment apparatus; wherein the substrate treatment apparatusincludes: an enclosure; at least one opening in the enclosure to inserta substrate into or remove a substrate from the enclosure; a movablesubstrate carrier, including a plurality of substrate holders, disposedwithin the enclosure to linearly move substrates disposed on theplurality of substrate holders; a heater to heat an interior of theenclosure; and a vent to exhaust the gas from the interior of theenclosure.

In some embodiments, a method of treating a substrate includes placing asubstrate onto one of a plurality of substrate holders of a movablesubstrate carrier within a non-vacuum enclosure of a substrate treatmentapparatus; heating the interior of the non-vacuum enclosure; supplying agas into the non-vacuum enclosure to react with a surface of thesubstrate; and exhausting the gas from the non-vacuum enclosure througha vent in the non-vacuum enclosure.

Other and further embodiments of the present disclosure are describedbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure, briefly summarized above anddiscussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to theillustrative embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the appendeddrawings. However, the appended drawings illustrate only typicalembodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equallyeffective embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a processing system suitable for use with a substratetreatment apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a substrate treatment apparatus inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a substrate treatment apparatus inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the substrate treatment apparatus of FIG. 2 inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the substrate treatment apparatus of FIG. 3 inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a substrate treatment method in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplifiedfor clarity. Elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficiallyincorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to substratetreatment methods and apparatus for use in integrated substratefabrication systems. The inventive substrate treatment apparatusadvantageously removes moisture and/or residue from more than onesubstrate at a time, thus improving the throughput of a multi-substrateprocessing system. Embodiments of the inventive substrate treatmentapparatus advantageously mounts directly to a factory interface (FI) ofa substrate processing tool and pretreats a substrate at atmosphericpressure, thus increasing throughput of the substrate processing toolwhile minimizing any negative impact on the floor space used by thesubstrate processing tool.

FIG. 1 is a schematic top-view diagram of an exemplary multi-chamberprocessing system 100 that may be suitable for use with the presentinventive apparatus disclosed herein. Examples of suitable multi-chamberprocessing systems that may be suitably modified in accordance with theteachings provided herein include the ENDURA®, CENTURA®, and PRODUCER®processing systems or other suitable processing systems commerciallyavailable from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif.Other processing systems (including those from other manufacturers) maybe adapted to benefit from the disclosure.

In some embodiments, the multi-chamber processing system 100 maygenerally comprise a vacuum-tight processing platform 102, a factoryinterface 104, and a system controller 140. The processing platform 102may include a plurality of process chambers 190A-F and at least oneload-lock chamber (two shown) 184 that are coupled to a transfer chamber188. A transfer robot 106 (described below with respect to FIGS. 2 and3) is centrally disposed in the transfer chamber 188 to transfersubstrates between the load lock chambers 184 and the process chambers190A-F. The process chambers 190A-F may be configured to perform variousfunctions including layer deposition including atomic layer deposition(ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD),etch, pre-clean, de-gas, orientation and center-finding, annealing, andother substrate processes Each of the process chambers 190A-F mayinclude a slit valve or other selectively sealable opening toselectively fluidly couple the respective inner volumes of the processchambers 190A-F to the inner volume of the transfer chamber 188.Similarly, each load lock chamber 184 may include a port to selectivelyfluidly couple the respective inner volumes of the load lock chambers184 to the inner volume of the transfer chamber 188.

The factory interface 104 is coupled to the transfer chamber 188 via theload lock chambers 184. In some embodiments, each of the load lockchambers 184 may include a first port 123 coupled to the factoryinterface 104 and a second port 125 coupled to the transfer chamber 188.The load lock chambers 184 may be coupled to a pressure control systemwhich pumps down and vents the load lock chambers 184 to facilitatepassing the substrate between the vacuum environment of the transferchamber 188 and the substantially ambient (e.g., atmospheric)environment of the factory interface 104.

In some embodiments, the factory interface 104 comprises at least onedocking station 183 and at least one factory interface robot 185 (oneshown) to facilitate transfer of substrates from the factory interface104 to the processing platform 102 for processing through the load lockchambers 184. The docking station 183 is configured to accept one ormore (four shown) front opening unified pods (FOUPs) 187A-D. Optionally,one or more metrology stations (not shown) may be coupled to the factoryinterface 104 to facilitate measurement of the substrate from the FOUPs187A-D. A substrate treatment apparatus 195 may also be coupled to thefactory interface 104 to enable treatment of the substrates before theyare moved to the load lock chambers 184. The substrate treatmentapparatus 195 is in a similar ambient environment as the factoryinterface 104 (e.g., at atmospheric pressure). The factory interfacerobot 185 disposed in the factory interface 104 is capable of linear androtational movement (arrows 182) to shuttle cassettes of substratesbetween the substrate treatment apparatus 195, the load lock chambers184, and the one or more FOUPs 187A-D. Although the substrate treatmentapparatus 195 is depicted mounted in a particular location of thefactory interface 104, the substrate treatment apparatus 195 may bemounted in other locations as well, such as in place of one of the FOUPS187, atop the factory interface 104, or in a different location alongthe perimeter of the factory interface 104, so long as there issufficient clearance and access for the factory interface robot 185 tomove substrates between the various locations.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic side view of a substrate treatmentapparatus 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.The substrate treatment apparatus 200 may be used as the substratetreatment apparatus 195 depicted in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, thesubstrate treatment apparatus 200 includes an enclosure 202 having aninterior volume 204. A movable substrate carrier 206 is disposed in theinterior volume 204. A gas supply 212 is provided to provide one or moregases to the interior volume 204. A vent 208 is disposed through theenclosure 202 to facilitate removal of the one or more gases from theinterior volume 204. In some embodiments, the vent 208 is disposed at ornear the top of the enclosure 202. A heater 214 may be provided tofacilitate more rapid removal of contaminants disposed on the substratesbeing treated by the substrate treatment apparatus 200.

The enclosure 202 is suitable for use as an over and may includeinsulated walls to more efficiently retain heat and to maintain a safetemperature on outer surfaces of the enclosure 202. In some embodiments,the enclosure is a non-vacuum enclosure, meaning that the enclosure isnot sealed sufficiently to maintain a vacuum environment within theenclosure. In some embodiments, the enclosure is a vacuum enclosure,meaning that the enclosure is sealed sufficiently to maintain a vacuumenvironment within the enclosure (although the apparatus may be used ina vacuum environment or at atmospheric pressure).

The movable substrate carrier 206 holds one or more substrates 210, andin some embodiments, a plurality of substrates 210. The movablesubstrate carrier 206 has a plurality of substrate holders or supports220 to support the one or more substrates 210. In some embodiments, apair of supports 220 are provided to support each of the one or moresubstrates 210 proximate an edge of the substrate 210 on opposing sidesof the substrate 210. A motor 222, or other suitable mechanism may beprovided to control the motion of the movable substrate carrier 206.

For example, as depicted in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the substratetreatment apparatus 200 may include a conveyor including a firstwireframe conveyor 216 and a second wireframe conveyor 218. Each of thefirst and second wireframe conveyors 216, 218 has a plurality ofsupports 220 to support the substrates 210. The first and secondwireframe conveyors 216, 218 are spaced apart from each othersufficiently such that the supports 220 support the substrates 210proximate the edge of the substrates 210 with sufficient clearance toallow placement and removal of the substrates 210 onto and off of thesupports 220. In some embodiments, the supports 220 of the first andsecond wireframe conveyors 216, 218 may be configured to minimize oreliminate particle generation due to contact with the substrates 210when disposed on the supports 220. For example, the supports 220 mayhave a coating or minimized support surfaces.

Motion of the first and second wireframe conveyors 216, 218 may becontrolled by one or more motors (one motor 222 shown) or other drivesystem. The first and second wireframe conveyors 216, 218 rotate inopposite directions, as indicated by arrows A and B, to move thesubstrate 210 up or down in the interior volume 204. Although shownrotating such that the substrates 210 move downward within the interiorvolume, the rotation direction could be reversed such that thesubstrates 210 move upward. The direction of movement of the substrates210 may be selected to minimize the possibility of removed particulateor other materials and or gases being redeposited on a substrate 210when ready to be removed from the substrate treatment apparatus 200. Forexample, in the embodiments shown, the vent 208 is disposed in the topof the enclosure 202 and the substrates 210 move downward within theinterior volume such that gas and heat flows upward, in a directionopposite the motion of the substrates 210. In such embodiments, thetreated substrates being removed from the enclosure have less exposureto the flow of gases and possible particulate matter or othercontaminants.

Other configurations of the movable substrate carrier 206 arecontemplated. For example, FIG. 3 depicts a schematic side view of asubstrate treatment apparatus 300 in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The substrate treatment apparatus 300 isgenerally the same as substrate treatment apparatus 200 except that themovable substrate carrier 206 is replaced with a movable substratecarrier 306. As shown in FIG. 3, the movable substrate carrier 306 maybe a multi-substrate carrier having a plurality of substrate supports orsubstrate holders 320 to support a plurality of substrates 210. Themovable substrate carrier 306 may be fabricated from suitableprocess-compatible materials, such as, for example, quartz, ceramics, orhigh-temperature plastics. An actuator 322 is provided to move themovable substrate carrier 306 linearly, as represented by arrow C.

Returning to FIG. 2, the gas supply 212 is in fluid communication withthe interior volume 204 to supply an inert gas to the interior volume204. In some embodiments, an inert gas or a gas mixture including aninert gas and about 0 to about 5 percent of a reactive gas may beprovided. Examples of suitable inert gases include noble gases (such asargon or helium), nitrogen, and the like. Examples of suitable reactivegases include hydrogen gas (H₂), ammonia (NH₃), oxygen (O₂), and thelike. The vent 208 facilitates exhaust of the gases from the interiorvolume 204. In some embodiments, the gas mixture may contain greateramounts of the reactive gas, including up to 100% reactive gas. Inembodiments where amounts of reactive gas are considered unsafe perindustrial standards or other regulations, the interior volume 204 canbe sealed off from the surrounding environment, for example, by the useof gas curtains, doors to cover the openings, or the like.

The heater 214 is provided to heat the interior volume 204 to a firsttemperature, for example, to about 75 to about 300° C. In someembodiments, the heater 214 may include a resistive heater or the like.The first temperature may be determined based on the type of substrate210 inside of the substrate treatment apparatus 200. The heater 214 mayheat the walls surrounding the interior volume 204 to a temperaturenecessary to achieve the first temperature in the interior volume 204.

The enclosure 202 (or 302) includes one or more openings disposedthrough a wall of the enclosure to insert and/or retrieve a substratefrom the enclosure. The one or more openings generally face the factoryinterface 104 to facilitate interfacing with the factory interface robot185. Alternatively, the one or more openings may face a directionsuitable for interfacing with a substrate transfer mechanism to insertand remove substrates from the enclosure 202.

For example, as depicted in FIG. 4, the substrate treatment apparatus200 includes a first opening 402 disposed near an upper region of theenclosure 202 (i.e., proximate to the vent 208) and a second opening 404disposed near a lower region of the enclosure 202. Alternatively, asdepicted in FIG. 5, a single opening 502 is disposed in the enclosure202. The first and second openings 402, 404 and the single opening 502are sized to allow a substrate to be placed on and removed from themovable substrate carrier 206. For example, the openings are sized toallow a substrate being carried by a robot (e.g., the factory interfacerobot 185) to be transferred through the openings. The openings mayfurther be minimized to minimize one or more of heat loss from theenclosure 202 to the surrounding environment or movement of gases and/orparticulate matter into the enclosure 202. The moveable substratecarrier may be moved in an upward direction and a downward direction toalign ones of the supports 220 with the one or more openings (e.g., thefirst and second openings 302, 304 or the single opening 502) tofacilitate insertion or removal of the substrate 210 from the substratetreatment apparatus 200, 300.

In some embodiments, a gas curtain may be provided across the one ormore openings (e.g., the first and second openings 302, 304 and thesingle opening 502) to facilitate prevention of contaminants fromentering into the enclosure 202 and depositing on the substratesdisposed therein and to further minimize heat loss to the environmentoutside of the enclosure 202. For example, as depicted in FIG. 4, thegas supply 212 may be additionally coupled to a manifold 406 having aplurality of outlets dispersed along the length of the manifold 406 andarranged to provide a gas curtain 408 when gas is supplied from the gassupply 212 during use. Alternatively, a different gas supply may becoupled to the manifold 406 to provide the gas curtain. Suitable gasesfor providing the gas curtain include inert gases such as thosedescribed above with respect to the gas supply 212. In some embodiments,a door may seal the first and second openings 302, 304 (or singleopening 502) when substrates 210 are not being transferred to/from thesubstrate treatment apparatus 200. For example the door 504, depicted inFIG. 5, may be provided to selectively seal or open the openings in theenclosure 202. The door 504 may be manually operated or automatic.

In some embodiments, the interior volume 204 is kept at atmosphericpressure (i.e., a non-vacuum enclosure) to increase throughput of themulti-chamber processing system 100. Alternatively, the interior volume204 may be evacuated to achieve a sub-atmospheric pressure furtherincreasing the ability of the substrate treatment apparatus 200 toremove moisture from the substrates 210. To ensure that a propersub-atmospheric pressure environment exists in the interior volume 204,the first and second openings 302, 304 (or single opening 502) may besealed off (for example, by a door such as the door 504). In someembodiments, a pump (not shown) may be coupled to the vent 208 tomaintain the pressure within the interior volume 204 at or within apredetermined setpoint or range.

In use, the factory interface robot 185 removes a substrate 210 from anyof the FOUPs 187A-D and places the substrate 210 onto the movablesubstrate carrier 206 through the first opening 402 in the enclosure202. The movable substrate carrier 206 moves the substrate (e.g.,downward) to allow placement of another substrate onto the movablesubstrate carrier 206. After the substrate 210 is placed within thesubstrate treatment apparatus 200, the heat and gas inside of theinterior volume 204 may react with moisture and oxidation on a surfaceof the substrate 210 to remove at least some of the moisture andoxidation. The moisture and any reaction byproducts, along with the gasflowing through the enclosure 202, are exhausted through the vent 208 toappropriate exhaust handling equipment. In some embodiments, the movablesubstrate carrier 206 moves the substrate 210 in a direction opposite anexhaust direction (e.g., downward in the embodiments shown in theFigures) so that the reaction byproducts do not contaminate alreadytreated substrates disposed in the enclosure 202. Although the vent 208is depicted at the top of the enclosure 202, the vent 208 may instead bedisposed at the bottom or other locations of the enclosure 202. In someembodiments, the movable substrate carrier 206 moves the substrate 210placed thereon in a direction opposite the exhausting direction.

For example, FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 of treating a substrate inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method600 generally begins at 605, where a substrate 210 is inserted into theenclosure 202 of the substrate treatment apparatus 200. Specifically,the substrate 210 is inserted onto a support of the movable substratecarrier 206, 306. At 610, the interior of the enclosure 202 is heated toa temperature of about 75 to about 300° C. At 615, a gas comprising aninert gas, a reactive gas, or a mixture of the inert gas and thereactive gas (as disclosed above) is supplied to the interior of theenclosure 202. At 620, the gas is exhausted from the enclosure 202through the vent 208 (drawing moisture and any reaction byproducts withthe moisture).

In some embodiments, the substrate treatment apparatus 200 utilizes abatch method, in which multiple substrates 210 may be placed onto aplurality of supports of the movable substrate carrier 206, 306 forsimultaneous treatment. Batch processing of multiple substrates may beadvantageous if the multi-chamber processing system 100 receives asubstrate during a time interval that is less than a treatment time forthe method 600. For example, if the multi-chamber processing system 100receives a substrate every minute and the method 600 is performed forfive minutes, the method 600 may advantageously be performedsimultaneously on five or more substrates at a time.

Returning to FIG. 1, the system controller 140 controls operation of themulti-chamber processing system 100 using a direct control of one ormore of the processing platform 102 and factory interface 104 components(i.e., the process chambers 190A-F, transfer robot 106, etc.) oralternatively, by controlling the computers (or controllers) associatedwith the processing platform 102 and factory interface 104 components.The system controller 140 generally includes a central processing unit(CPU) 142, a memory 144, and support circuits 146. The CPU 142 may beone of any form of a general purpose computer processor that can be usedin an industrial setting. The memory 144, or computer-readable medium,is accessible by the CPU 138 and may be one or more of readily availablememory such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM),floppy disk, hard disk, or any other form of digital storage, local orremote. The support circuits 146 are conventionally coupled to the CPU142 and may comprise cache, clock circuits, input/output subsystems,power supplies, and the like.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may bedevised without departing from the basic scope thereof.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for processing a substrate,comprising: a non-vacuum enclosure; at least one opening in thenon-vacuum enclosure to insert a substrate into or remove a substratefrom the non-vacuum enclosure; a movable substrate carrier, including aplurality of substrate holders, disposed within the non-vacuum enclosureto support a plurality of substrates in a vertically spaced-apartrelation and to linearly move the plurality of substrates when disposedon the plurality of substrate holders; a heater to heat an interior ofthe non-vacuum enclosure; a gas supply to supply a gas to the interiorof the non-vacuum enclosure; and a vent to exhaust the gas from theinterior of the non-vacuum enclosure.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the heater is configured to heat the interior of the non-vacuumenclosure to a temperature of about 75 to about 300° C.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the gas supply provides an inert gas.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas supply provides a gas mixture ofan inert gas and a reactive gas.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe gas supply provides a reactive gas.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the movable substrate carrier includes a conveyor to move thesubstrates in a direction opposite to an exhausting direction.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one opening includes a firstopening disposed in an upper region of the non-vacuum enclosure and asecond opening disposed in a lower region of the non-vacuum enclosure.8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of substrateholders includes a pair of supports for supporting each substrateproximate an edge of the substrate.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe at least one opening is a single opening through which the substrateis inserted and removed.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein themovable substrate carrier can move the substrate holders in an upwarddirection and a downward direction to selectively align ones of theplurality of substrate holders with the single opening.
 11. An apparatusfor processing a substrate, comprising: a factory interface forinterfacing with a substrate processing platform, the factory interfaceincluding a docking station and a factory interface robot to facilitatetransfer of substrates from the factory interface to the substrateprocessing platform; a substrate treatment apparatus coupled to thefactory interface such that the factory interface robot can placesubstrates into or remove substrates from the substrate treatmentapparatus; and a gas supply coupled to the substrate treatment apparatusto provide a gas to an interior volume of the substrate treatmentapparatus; wherein the substrate treatment apparatus comprises: anenclosure; at least one opening in the enclosure to insert a substrateinto or remove a substrate from the enclosure; a movable substratecarrier, including a plurality of substrate holders, disposed within theenclosure to support a plurality of substrates in a verticallyspaced-apart relation and to linearly move a plurality of substrateswhen disposed on the plurality of substrate holders; a heater to heat aninterior of the enclosure; and a vent to exhaust the gas from theinterior of the enclosure.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theenclosure is a vacuum enclosure.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe enclosure is a non-vacuum enclosure.